This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
I talked about it a little on Thursday, when Taylor Hall was on the hot list and we discussed how parity has made it so you don't have to discount an entire team because their players are rendered useless by an inept team. (Looking at you 2014-15 Buffalo Sabres.) But, that top line in Edmonton... Wow.
Hall, Leon Draisaitl and Teddy Purcell almost sank the Rangers by themselves Friday night. They ultimately took out one of the league's top teams and chased one of the world's best goaltenders from the net.
The three of them combined for 11 points and gave the game to the Oilers in dramatic fashion. With just 1:46 left in the game, Rick Nash scored a power play goal to tie the game at 5-5.
12 seconds later: Hall from Draisaitl and Purcell. 6-5 Oilers.
They're a ton of fun to watch. Just wait until that team gets Connor McDavid and Benoit Pouliot back in the lineup. It's going to be appointment viewing.
No, they probably don't make the playoffs, but they're starting to play like the Junior Stars. A bit of 80s flair on the rush, not much defense to speak of and just a lot of fun.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Panthers (Roberto Luongo) at Bruins (Tuukka Rask), 1:00 PM
Kings (Jhonas Enroth) at Sabres (Linus Ullmark), 7:00 PM
Senators (Craig Anderson) at Canadiens (Mike Condon), 7:00 PM
Capitals (Braden Holtby) at Lightning (Ben Bishop), 7:00 PM
Islanders (Jaroslav Halak) at Blue Jackets (Curtis McElhinney), 7:00 PM
Stars (Kari Lehtonen) at Blues (Jake Allen), 8:00 PM
Avalanche (Semyon Varlamov) at Predators (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 PM
Hurricanes (Eddie Lack) at Coyotes (Anders Lindback), 9:00 PM
Rangers (Antti Raanta) at Flames (Karri Ramo), 10:00 PM
Wild (Darcy Kuemper) at Sharks (Martin Jones), 10:30 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Saturday
Florida Panthers
Steve Kampfer, D (lower body) - is not joining the team on the road
Nick Bjugstad, C (upper body) - was placed on IR and won't travel with the team on their current road trip
Alex Petrovic, D (foot) - returned to the ice, but isn't close to playing
Boston Bruins
Chris Kelly, RW (fractured femur) - is out for the season
Colin Miller, D (undisclosed) - didn't play Wednesday
David Pastrnak, LW (foot) - has resumed skating on his own
Joonas Kemppainen, C (upper body) - is on IR
Los Angeles Kings
Matt Greene, D (shoulder) - is out indefinitely
Trevor Lewis, C (upper body) - didn't play on Friday
Dwight King, LW (foot) - is expected to resume skating soon
Kyle Clifford, LW (upper body) - didn't play Friday
Buffalo Sabres
Mark Pysyk, D (lower body) - is week-to-week
Tyler Ennis, LW (upper body) - is also week-to-week
Robin Lehner, G (ankle) - is still unable to practice
Cody McCormick, C (illness) - hasn't yet played this season
Ottawa Senators
Chris Phillips, D (back) - isn't making progress in his recovery
Milan Michalek, LW (finger) - has been placed on IR
Clarke MacArthur, LW (concussion) - has no timetable for a return
Andrew Hammond, G (head) - is on a conditioning stint in the AHL
Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price, G (leg) - has another month on the shelf before he's ready to return
Torrey Mitchell, C (lower body) - didn't play in the team's last game
Devante Smith-Pelly, RW (lower body) - missed Thursday's game
Brendan Gallagher, RW (hand) - remains out following surgery on a broken hand
Washington Capitals
Brooks Orpik, D (lower body) - is undergoing therapy instead of surgery and will be out a while
Tampa Bay Lightning
Erik Condra, RW (lower body) - will likely miss about another week
Tyler Johnson, C (undisclosed) - didn't practice Friday
Cedric Paquette, C (upper body) - remains out
New York Islanders
Cal Clutterbuck, RW (upper body) - practiced on Friday
Columbus Blue Jackets
Sergei Bobrovsky, G (groin) - went on IR this week and is expected to be out a while
Markus Hannikainen, RW (shoulder) - is expected to miss about a month and a half
Cody Goloubef, D (jaw) - remains out with a broken jaw
Rene Bourque, LW (undisclosed) - remains out
Jared Boll, RW (foot) - didn't play Thursday
Dallas Stars
Devin Shore, C (shoulder) - will miss at least a month
St. Louis Blues
Steve Ott, C (hamstring) - is out three months
Patrik Berglund, C (shoulder) - remains on long-term injured reserve
Jaden Schwartz, LW (ankle) - has been out since late October
Colorado Avalanche
Brad Stuart, D (back) - remains out
Jesse Winchester, LW (concussion) - is out
Gabriel Landeskog, LW (back) - is traveling with the team
Ben Street, C (chest) - remains on IR
Nashville Predators
Gabriel Bourque, LW (lower body) - is on IR
Colin Wilson, LW (lower body) - didn't play Thursday
Mike Fisher, C (lower body) - is questionable
Carolina Hurricanes
Nathan Gerbe, LW (lower body) - is still on IR
James Wisniewski, D (ACL) - has been out since the first game of the season
Arizona Coyotes
Martin Hanzal, C (lower body) - has been ruled out of Saturday's game
Joe Vitale, C (fractured orbital bone) - is out still
Shane Doan, RW (lower body) - didn't play Friday
Mike Smith, G (lower body) - didn't play Friday
New York Rangers
Kevin Klein, D (oblique) - remains out
Derek Stepan, C (ribs) - should miss at least another couple weeks
Calgary Flames
Lance Bouma, C (lower leg) - remains out
Jiri Hudler, RW (illness) - is questionable after missing Thursday's game
Karri Ramo, G (illness) - backed up from the locker room on Thursday, he's questinoable
Kris Russell, D (hand) - didn't play Thursday
Minnesota Wild
Devan Dubnyk, G (groin) - has been ruled out
Tyler Graovac, C (hernia) - has resumed skating, but isn't ready to return
San Jose Sharks
Matthew Nieto, LW (lower body) - is questionable for Saturday
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, D (lower body) - returned to practice Friday
Logan Couture, C (thigh) - is out indefinitely
Raffi Torres, LW (suspension) - still out
Hot
Claude Giroux, C, PHI — With the Philadelphia power play starting to click since the recall of Shayne Gostisbehere, Giroux has found a lot more production. One of the best power play distributors in the game, getting a weapon on the blue line makes him far more valuable. Over his last 10 games, he has five goals and 10 assists with an average of 3.2 shots per game. Seven of those 15 points have come on the power play.
Connor Hellebuyck, G, WPG — With Ondrej Pavalec out until at least mid-January, the 22-year-old Hellebuyck has wrestled the reins from Michael Hutchinson. How much does the team trust him? He just finished the second half of a back-to-back on Friday. Five games in, he has four wins and only one game below a .900 save percentage. He bounced back from that sub-.900 game nicely last night, stopping 29 of 31 Chicago shots to give his team a chance to win. The only goals he allowed came on the power play. In fact, four of the nine goals he's allowed in five games have come on the power play, which doesn't say much about the penalty kill in front of him, but says a lot about his overall play. He's posting a very nice .964 save percentage at even strength.
Cold
Dustin Brown, RW, LAK — Is it balmy in here or has Dustin Brown scored just a single goal in his last 13 games? He's also only grabbed two assists in that time. He's become a third line winger you can't count on to score. It's hard to call it a slump. This is just who he's become after posting a career-low 11 goals and 27 points last year.
Ryan Kesler, C, ANA — Kesler hasn't been on a 10-goal pace for a full season since his rookie year. He's current on track to score just eight goals and 31 points this season. That'd be wildly disappointing with his track record and the talent at his disposal. He's without a goal in six games and without a point in four.
Recommended Pickup
Teddy Purcell, RW, EDM — Purcell continues to be barely owned, but getting consistent play on the team's top line with Hall and Draisaitl, both of whom are crazy hot right now. Add to that, he's been on the team's top power play unit consistently, and he's a good pickup for some depth scoring. He's on a three-game point streak with two goals and four assists in that span.
